Lost login password for Windows

[Anasfeea]

I just set a new login password for Windows 10 pc yesterday ,It's an 8- character password, I remember writing it down on a paper last night, but it was gone, and I couldn't remember the password ,is there any way I can restore them back?

[Nick H. Supervisor]

Because it's Windows 10, if your PC account is linked to your Microsoft account there should be a "forgot password" option. But if the account isn't linked to a Microsoft account you don't have many options available. You'll pretty much have to reset the machine, which removes all of the data as well. You can see how to do that here: https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/help/4028457/windows-10-reset-your-local-account-password

[+E.Worm Jimmy Subscriber¹]

8 minutes ago, Nick H. said:

You'll pretty much have to reset the machine, which removes all of the data as well. 

or,you know, you don't have to lose data...

 

if you actually remove hard drive, put it in any other machine with windows 10 where you run an admin account, and go to the user folder, and when prompted, grant yourself access.  windows 10 security is basically useless if you have physical access to the machine.

 

 

 

[xendrome]

47 minutes ago, Jimmy #1 said:

or,you know, you don't have to lose data...

 

if you actually remove hard drive, put it in any other machine with windows 10 where you run an admin account, and go to the user folder, and when prompted, grant yourself access.  windows 10 security is basically useless if you have physical access to the machine.

 

 

 

That's only going to get him into his data, perhaps he doesn't want to reload the whole system?

[Xahid]

There are lot of free utilities which offer to reset windows login credentials .

[episode]

1 hour ago, Nick H. said:

Because it's Windows 10, if your PC account is linked to your Microsoft account there should be a "forgot password" option. But if the account isn't linked to a Microsoft account you don't have many options available. You'll pretty much have to reset the machine, which removes all of the data as well. You can see how to do that here: https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/help/4028457/windows-10-reset-your-local-account-password

This is patently false. If you have physical access, you just need a CD/DVD/USB to boot from and a utility to help you do so. Such as the ones on https://www.hirensbootcd.org and https://pogostick.net/~pnh/ntpasswd/

 

You can also do it from a normal Windows install DVD from command prompt if you want to do the registry edits yourself. 

 

Or there is the option of using a Windows 10 install DVD/USB to do the following:

 

1) Boot from the installer and go into recovery.

2) Go into command prompt.

3) Navigate to c:\windows\system32

4) Ren utilman.exe utilman.old

5) copy cmd.exe utilman.exe

6) Reboot the PC.

7) Click on the Accessibility icon in the corner

8- You'll get Command Prompt

9) net user administrator /active:yes

10) Reboot the PC.

11) Log into the Administrator account

12) Change password on the account you lost the password to.

13) Go back and undo steps 4,5, and 9 if you want.

[Som]

you can also reboot into recovery , or boot from a boot disk, rename the cmd.exe to utilman.exe , restart the computer, click on the ease of access button on the login screen (bottom right), it then opens a cmd prompt.. you can then enable the admin account by typing "net user /active:yes administrator" without the quotes, reboot and log in as administrator and change the password.  you can also use the net user command to reset or change your password....

Just now, episode said:

This is patently false. If you have physical access, you just need a CD/DVD/USB to boot from and a utility to help you do so. Such as the ones on https://www.hirensbootcd.org and https://pogostick.net/~pnh/ntpasswd/

 

You can also do it from a normal Windows install DVD from command prompt if you want to do the registry edits yourself. 

 

Or there is the option of using a Windows 10 install DVD/USB to do the following:

 

1) Boot from the installer and go into recovery.

2) Go into command prompt.

3) Navigate to c:\windows\system32

4) Ren utilman.exe utilman.old

5) copy cmd.exe utilman.exe

6) Reboot the PC.

7) Click on the Accessibility icon in the corner

8- You'll get Command Prompt

9) net user administrator /active:yes

10) Reboot the PC.

11) Log into the Administrator account

12) Change password on the account you lost the password to.

13) Go back and undo steps 4,5, and 9 if you want.

ah ya beat me to it by seconds ?

[Steve Wilmi]

13 hours ago, episode said:

This is patently false. If you have physical access, you just need a CD/DVD/USB to boot from and a utility to help you do so. Such as the ones on https://www.hirensbootcd.org and https://pogostick.net/~pnh/ntpasswd/

 

You can also do it from a normal Windows install DVD from command prompt if you want to do the registry edits yourself. 

 

Or there is the option of using a Windows 10 install DVD/USB to do the following:

 

1) Boot from the installer and go into recovery.

2) Go into command prompt.

3) Navigate to c:\windows\system32

4) Ren utilman.exe utilman.old

5) copy cmd.exe utilman.exe

6) Reboot the PC.

7) Click on the Accessibility icon in the corner

8- You'll get Command Prompt

9) net user administrator /active:yes

10) Reboot the PC.

11) Log into the Administrator account

12) Change password on the account you lost the password to.

13) Go back and undo steps 4,5, and 9 if you want.

Just make a little change with the above trick and we can create a new admin user for signing into Windows. This is especially useful when we're locked out of a Microsoft account. Additionally, an 8-character password could also be recovered using the free password cracking software Ophcrack.

 

If password reset/recovery is not feasible, restoring the system back to a previous backup point could be a good alternative.

[Anasfeea]

19 hours ago, Nick H. said:

Because it's Windows 10, if your PC account is linked to your Microsoft account there should be a "forgot password" option. But if the account isn't linked to a Microsoft account you don't have many options available. You'll pretty much have to reset the machine, which removes all of the data as well. You can see how to do that here: https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/help/4028457/windows-10-reset-your-local-account-password

First , thank you very much for your advice , unfortunately, i haven't used Microsoft account yet .I'll try to follow your advice.

 

[Anasfeea]

19 hours ago, Jimmy #1 said:

or,you know, you don't have to lose data...

 

if you actually remove hard drive, put it in any other machine with windows 10 where you run an admin account, and go to the user folder, and when prompted, grant yourself access.  windows 10 security is basically useless if you have physical access to the machine.

 

 

 

I've learned , It would be best to minimize the risk to other data on the computer .

[+E.Worm Jimmy Subscriber¹]

On 8/1/2018 at 2:30 AM, Anasfeea said:

I've learned , It would be best to minimize the risk to other data on the computer .

so.. what happened. there was some great advice posted after me. did you use it?

[adrynalyne]

On 7/31/2018 at 4:54 AM, episode said:

This is patently false. If you have physical access, you just need a CD/DVD/USB to boot from and a utility to help you do so. Such as the ones on https://www.hirensbootcd.org and https://pogostick.net/~pnh/ntpasswd/

 

You can also do it from a normal Windows install DVD from command prompt if you want to do the registry edits yourself. 

 

Or there is the option of using a Windows 10 install DVD/USB to do the following:

 

1) Boot from the installer and go into recovery.

2) Go into command prompt.

3) Navigate to c:\windows\system32

4) Ren utilman.exe utilman.old

5) copy cmd.exe utilman.exe

6) Reboot the PC.

7) Click on the Accessibility icon in the corner

8- You'll get Command Prompt

9) net user administrator /active:yes

10) Reboot the PC.

11) Log into the Administrator account

12) Change password on the account you lost the password to.

13) Go back and undo steps 4,5, and 9 if you want.

Why not just do it all at the command prompt and then you don’t need to add an additional security hole to your machine?

[Anasfeea]

I've tried it. It's mostly based on text format ,too complicated .

[SteveCac]

On 7/31/2018 at 12:40 PM, Xahid said:

There are lot of free utilities which offer to reset windows login credentials .

This every time for me.

[episode]

47 minutes ago, Anasfeea said:

I've tried it. It's mostly based on text format ,too complicated .

Yes, its in command prompt, but I gave you the commands you need to type in. I guess except for step 3. That should just be first

c:

then 

cd windows\system32

Then do the rest.

 

If you can't just follow the directions, you'll need to either use one of the utilities posted (which might be a little more complicated without a walkthrough) or bring the computer to someone who knows what they are doing.

[episode]

8 hours ago, adrynalyne said:

Why not just do it all at the command prompt and then you don’t need to add an additional security hole to your machine?

You can't create a new user from recovery/boot disk. 

[adrynalyne]

2 hours ago, episode said:

You can't create a new user from recovery/boot disk. 

Why create a new user when you can use an existing one?

 

https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.howtogeek.com/75470/how-to-enable-the-hidden-windows-7-admin-account-using-the-registry/amp/

 

It has worked since Windows XP all the way up to 8. There is also another way for newer. Let me find a link. 

 

Edit: Guess they changed it for 10. There is another backdoor Indoubt they closed from the days I did MS support but that one I don’t give out because it runs the risk of destroying the OS. 

Edited August 3, 2018 by adrynalyne

[episode]

41 minutes ago, adrynalyne said:

Why create a new user when you can use an existing one?

 

https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.howtogeek.com/75470/how-to-enable-the-hidden-windows-7-admin-account-using-the-registry/amp/

 

It has worked since Windows XP all the way up to 8. There is also another way for newer. Let me find a link. 

 

Edit: Guess they changed it for 10. There is another backdoor Indoubt they closed from the days I did MS support but that one I don’t give out because it runs the risk of destroying the OS. 

What in the name of ######? The method I posted does the exact same thing - turns on the Administrator account via command prompt from a boot device or recovery. Going into the registry to do so is MORE complicated, not less.

[adrynalyne]

6 hours ago, episode said:

What in the name of ######? The method I posted does the exact same thing - turns on the Administrator account via command prompt from a boot device or recovery. Going into the registry to do so is MORE complicated, not less.

I didn’t say it was easier kiddo. It’s more secure than renaming something and creating a security hole. Less secure methods are often easier LOL. Moot point as it was apparently changed in 10. Learn to read, eh?

[episode]

53 minutes ago, adrynalyne said:

I didn’t say it was easier kiddo. It’s more secure than renaming something and creating a security hole. Less secure methods are often easier LOL. Moot point as it was apparently changed in 10. Learn to read, eh?

To close the 'security hole' you just delete the renamed utilman.exe and set utilman.old back to utilman.exe.

I even said in the last step to undo what you did in those steps. Not complicated 'kiddo'.

[adrynalyne]

5 hours ago, episode said:

To close the 'security hole' you just delete the renamed utilman.exe and set utilman.old back to utilman.exe.

I even said in the last step to undo what you did in those steps. Not complicated 'kiddo'.

Which most people won’t do. Duh. My method wouldn’t create it in the first place and anyone who can read is perfectly safe doing it. 

 

Again, all a moot point, kiddo. 

[Anasfeea]

On 8/3/2018 at 8:01 PM, episode said:

Yes, its in command prompt, but I gave you the commands you need to type in. I guess except for step 3. That should just be first

c:

then 

cd windows\system32

Then do the rest.

 

If you can't just follow the directions, you'll need to either use one of the utilities posted (which might be a little more complicated without a walkthrough) or bring the computer to someone who knows what they are doing.

I left for several days.(On a business trip) ,that was the first thing I did when I came back, thanks .

[+Warwagon MVC]

On 8/3/2018 at 4:42 PM, episode said:

To close the 'security hole' you just delete the renamed utilman.exe and set utilman.old back to utilman.exe.

I even said in the last step to undo what you did in those steps. Not complicated 'kiddo'.

Wouldn't that mean you just deleted CMD as you need to rename utilman.exe to utilman.old and cmd.exe to utilman.exe

[episode]

10 hours ago, warwagon said:

Wouldn't that mean you just deleted CMD as you need to rename utilman.exe to utilman.old and cmd.exe to utilman.exe

... aren't you an IT consultant?

 

What does step #5 say?

[Anasfeea]

On 8/7/2018 at 11:57 AM, warwagon said:

Wouldn't that mean you just deleted CMD as you need to rename utilman.exe to utilman.old and cmd.exe to utilman.exe

It seems complicated....... anyway , thanks .